A discussion in the Pointless Trivia thread prompted me to start this. If you know of any bizzare or freak occurances. post it here. Let me start off with something that Blasphemer alluded to in the other thread : Mike the Headless Chicken.
On September 10, 1945, farmer Lloyd Olsen of Fruita, Colorado, had his mother-in-law around for supper and was sent out to the yard by his wife to bring back a chicken. Olsen chose a five-and-a-half month old cockerel named Mike. The axe missed the jugular vein, leaving one ear and most of the brain stem intact.
Despite Olsen's botched handiwork, Mike was still able to balance on a perch and walk clumsily; it even attempted to preen and crow, although it could do neither. After the bird did not die, a surprised Mr. Olsen decided to continue to care permanently for Mike, feeding it a mixture of milk and water via an eyedropper; it was also fed small grains of corn. Mike occasionally choked on its own mucus, which the Olsen family would clear using a syringe.
When used to its new and unusual center of mass, Mike could easily get itself to the highest perches without falling. Its crowing, though, was less impressive and consisted of a gurgling sound made in its throat, leaving it unable to crow at dawn. Mike also spent its time preening and attempting to peck for food with its neck.Being semi-headless did not keep Mike from putting on weight; at the time of its partial beheading it weighed two and a half pounds, but at the time of its death this had increased to nearly eight pounds.
Thought by many to be a hoax, the bird was taken by its owner to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City to establish its authenticity. Mike began a career of touring sideshows in the company of such other creatures as a two-headed calf. It was also photographed for dozens of magazines and papers, featuring in Time and Life magazines. Mike was later examined by the officers of several humane societies and was declared to have been free from any suffering.
